April 29th, 2022 by Audrey Marcum
After several years of virtual-only events, #TeamInflectra was grateful for the opportunity to attend STAREAST in-person in Orlando, Florida. This year, STAREAST celebrated its 30th year of being a leader in testing and quality innovation, and we were excited to be a part of the magic as a Gold Sponsor. Full of keynotes, tutorials, and sessions covering a wide range of topics, STAREAST brings together like-minded industry peers and thought-leaders to learn, share, and explore all things QA, Agile, and Testing. Here's the recap of our time at the conference.
Meeting at the National Airport in Washington, DC
Early Tuesday morning on April 26th, #TeamInflectra headed to the DCA airport, swag in tow, ready to take on the STAREAST conference. It just so happened we ended up wearing matching travel outfits, too (completely unplanned!).
Arriving at the Rosen Centre in Orlando
After touching down in Orlando, we made our way to the conference destination: The Rosen Centre. The Rosen Centre is known for its distinct architecture and wide variety of uses, from business, entertainment, to family fun. Inside the hotel were large ballrooms and flexible spaces used for the conference expo, keynote talks, and reception. The space did not disappoint!
Once we settled into our hotel rooms and dropped off our baggage, we had lunch at the restaurant out by the hotel pool. Feeling fueled, we then set up the booth in preparation for the expo taking place the next day. We could feel the conference buzz in the air!
Seeing Familiar Faces
That evening, we joined the attendees and sponsors of the STAREAST conference for a welcome reception out by the pool. We had the opportunity to catch-up with familiar faces and meet new ones. Here, we’re pictured with the Coveros/Techwell team, the masterminds behind the STAREAST conference, as well as a trusted partner of Inflectra.
We also had the chance to visit with Inflectra partner Bob Johnston from Critical Logic.
Inflectra Booth at the Expo Day 1
Rise and shine! On Wednesday April 27th, we woke up early to prepare for the first day of the expo, where people came to explore the latest solutions, technologies, and tools in testing. The expo also provided a place to network with other vendors and attendees and to learn new skills.
We laid out our Inflectra swag, including our “James Bond” pen, bluetooth earphones, customized stickers, “stress” stars, and charging pads. Not a bad array of items! We displayed live Spira and Rapise environments on our iPads, waiting to be demoed.
Finally, the expo doors opened and the attendees flooded in. It was nice to see so many people in-person who were excited to be at the conference. We were grateful to have a busy booth, where we had the opportunity to share our solutions and methodologies.
Running the Risk and a Special Prize Give-Away
That afternoon, our CEO and Founder Adam Sandman gave a presentation on applying a risk-based approach to testing. Presented to both the in-person and virtual audiences, Adam discussed the different types of risk that you should be considering and how you can use the assessment of risk to create a test plan that gives you the greatest risk coverage in the time available. Well done, Adam.
That evening, we participated in the Sponsor Prize Give-Away. We were excited to give one lucky winner a pair of 2nd generation Apple Airpods.
Inflectra Booth at the Expo Day 2
The second and final day of the expo was a bit slower than the first, albeit productive! Given a little more time, we had the chance to talk with other vendors in the ballroom as well as give more in-depth demos to attendees.
Once the expo began wrapping up, we said farewell to the other vendors around us and packed our booth. It was a quick couple of days, but wow was it nice to be back in the conference swing of things.
That’s a wrap!
Until next time, STAREAST. Now, we turn our attention toward InflectraCON 2022 this week May 5th-6th. If you’re in the area or would still like to attend, it’s not too late to purchase tickets!